Diary dilemnas
by Whit3 ros3 bud
Summary: At Charms class, Professor Flitwick is handing out enchanted diaries, similar to the one that was possessed by Tom Riddle. What happens when diaries are dropped, drama is risen, and romance stirs in the air?  On Hiatus, revising and editing to improve :P
1. Chapter 1: Dream of a memory

Chapter 1: Memory of a dream

_Two kids are walking in the park. It's a mid afternoon, and the sun is shining down upon them. As I peer closer from my spot in the bushes, I realize the kids are familiar. _

"_What's wrong, Rosie?" 6 year old Scorpius asks._

"_Nothing." my 6 year old version replies, looking down at her feet._

"_Your dad." he looks up at mini me, big gray eyes sad._

"_He still doesn't like us being friends, does he?" Rose number 2 looks up at him and slowly shakes her head._

"_What about your dad?" she asks quietly._

_Scorp manages a tight smile, and I know, just as my dad isn't happy with his acquaintance, his father isn't happy with mine. The history between the Malfoys, Weasleys, Potters, and Grangers, go back a long way._

_Rose exhales a long exasperated sigh, putting her face into her small, but chubby, hands._

_Scorpius turns to Rosie, who's back is facing my shrub. He puts his arms around her, and in a childish way, the gesture is sweet and caring. _

"_Don't worry, Rosie. Everything will be okay." his words drift over to my hiding spot. _

_I look at the kids. Scorpius is speaking to me when we were six, yet I am in shock. He is looking at **me**. His innocent gray eyes look into mine across the park, even though he is hugging my childhood version. _

"_Everything will be okay..."_


	2. Chapter 2: Just Charming

Albus Potter sat in the back row, near the door, of Professor Flitwick's charm class. It was a sunny, Monday, morning, and everyone was feeling tired because the break had just ended.

He looked over at his close cousin, Rose Weasley, whose head, on top of her books, was hidden beneath her auburn curls. She was asleep. Not that he could blame her. Albus himself had only gotten four or five hours of sleep last night. The reason was that Victoire had given birth to her baby. Oh yes, Albus himself, had been sleeping soundly and peacefully, when the phone rang. He heard Ginny pick up the phone, and squeal, loudly. And so, the whole family, including James, who had flooed in from his flat, had rushed to the hospital, half dressed, to visit Victoire's first born child, where they stayed in the hospital, until, 3 or 4 in the morning. By the time Albus had gotten home, and fallen asleep, it seemed only a minute later when he had to wake up. He had to perform an awakening charm so that he would be ready for Hogwarts. And of course, Rose had stayed up even later to get a "head start" on all of her extra-curricular classes.

A paper crane flew over to Albus' desk, landing quietly. He picked up the note, unfolding it, and read it.

_Is Rose alive?_was written in an elegant scrawl.

Albus looked over at Scorpius, his best mate, who was grinning crookedly. He shook his head comically, then turned back around. Albus folded the note into a little piranha fish, and threw it on Rose's desk, where the piranha fish had started wiggling it's way across the hair curls onto Rose's arm. The fish pecked and bit at Rose's wrist. Her eyes flew open.

"What the—ow!!!" Rose screeched.

She turned to look at Albus, who was about to respond, when Professor Flitwick strode over.

" Mr. Potter, and Miss Weasley, now is not the time to be passing notes! As seventh years, and as Head girl, Miss Weasley, I expected you to know better! Set an example for the younger ones!"

"Yes sir," they both replied, Rose ducking her head sheepishly, while Albus looked away, exasperatedly.

"As I was saying," Flitwick continued, as he shot them both a glare upon returning to the front of the class, "the next assignment will be an enchanted journal."

Rose, who was finally paying attention again, shot her hand up in the air.

"Yes, Miss Weasley?"

"My aunt Ginny had a book like that. It was bewitched, and nearly sucked the soul out of her!"

Gasps of horror and screams arose from around the class.

"I assure you, Miss Weasley, that the journal your aunt had, was an extremely powerful dark object, which I'm sure you Uncle Mr. Potter would have informed you about. These are merely charmed," Flitwick said.

"Your assignment," Flitwick explained, "is to write in them. You'll be surprised with what you find. I want the journal finished by mid-term!"

He picked up the pile of notebooks stacked up on his desk and started handing one out to each person. They were all a dark black. When all were finished being handed out, the students gathered up their books and started to drift out of the classroom.

***

After Charms class, at the end of the day, Scorpius, Albus, and Rose, were walking down the hallway.

"He's nutters," Scorpius said.

"He's making us write a diary! What will all the others think of boys now? We'll look like blasted pansies!" Albus shook his head.

"I don't think it's that bad," Rose replied emphatically.

"Rosie dear," Albus put an arm around her shoulders.

"That's because you're a girl!"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" she demanded, glaring at Albus.

"Nothing." Scorpius put in quickly.

Rose decided to ignore Albus' previous comment.

"I'm going to the library. Al, Scorp, you wanna come? I want to start working on our journals."

"Actually," Scorpius looked at his watch. "I'm going to have quidditch tryouts for the Slytherins in 10 minutes. I think I have to get ready. You coming, Albus?" he shot Rose an apologetic smile.

Scorpius had gotten lucky this year. Not only was he Head boy with Rose as Head girl, he received the badge for the new Slytherin Quidditch captain.

Rose was pretty upset when she came to Hogwarts in first year, considering the fact that Lily had been sorted into Gryffindor, and Scorpius and Albus into Slytherin. She herself was sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Yup. I think I'm trying out for beater this year." Albus smiled.

"I'm trying out for seeker. We are so going to own you guys this year!" Rose squealed.

"We'll see about that," Scorpius drawled.

The three parted ways, Rose heading for the library, and Scorpius and Albus heading for the Quidditch field.

***

The library was dimmed and quiet, with barely anyone left in it. The candle beside Rose was her main source of light. Rose dipped her quill in the ink, opened her journal, and began to write.

_Hello. My name is Rose Weasley._

She watched the words disappear into the page.

After a few seconds, a curly, fancy, sort of script appeared onto the page.

_Hello, Miss Weasley. I've heard so much about you..._

The words faded. Then more curly words came.

_I do believe we're going to be great friends..._


	3. Chapter 3: Hot cross buns

It was a cozy, peaceful evening. The dinner in the Great Hall had officially finished about an hour ago. Rose was in the Heads' common room, working on her journal, while Scorpius had just finished his night's practice with the new Slytherin quidditch team. The door of the Heads' common room swung open, and Scorpius stepped inside.

"How was quidditch?" Rose asked without lifting her head up from the diary. She was sitting in a comfy arm chair, her curly hair piled at the top of her head, her legs tucked up next to her. The warm flames from the fireplace gave her skin an eerily looking glow.

"Pretty good. I do think we're going to win this year," Scorpius exclaimed, toweling off his recently showered hair, now wet. Water drops flew everywhere.

"." Rose replied, while still writing in her journal.

"When are quidditch tryouts for the Ravenclaw team?" Scorpius took a seat next to Rose on the couch.

"Next Tuesday."

It was quiet for a moment, while Scorpius peered down at Rose's journal.

"What are you looking at?" she glanced at him suspiciously.

" Good Merlin, Rosie, I always knew you were Flitwick's favorite, but this is just huge in comparison!"

He looked at her incredulously.

"What are you talking about?" She asked suspiciously.

"I don't get it. Why is your cover different from everyone else's?" Scorpius questioned.

Rose set her quill down and closed the book, peering at the plain black cover of the journal.

It was then that she saw it. At the bottom of the book, was a small, pink, rosebud. It was starting to bloom. The stem extended out to write in familiar, curly, fancy, letters, _Rose_.

Rose smiled, grinning inwardly.

"I have no idea." she replied simply.

***

Weeks flew by in a flash. It seemed only yesterday, to Rose, that she had just received the journal from Professor Flitwick. And now, it was time to go to Charms' class yet again.

She detached herself from Scorpius' and Albus' arms, and went to find a seat in the back.

After taking out her journal, smiling at the budding rose on the cover, and taking out her quill and ink, Rose slung her book-bag over the back of her chair and waited patiently for class to start.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the class finally did.

"Good afternoon class," Professor Flitwick greeted.

"Good afternoon, Professor Flitwick," the class chorused.

"You've all been working on your journals I assume?"

Heads bobbed up in down, except for one ebony colored forehead.

Albus Potter turned to look at Scorpius, his emerald eyes bewildered and panicked.

"We were supposed to start it?"

Scorpius shook his head amusedly, turned back to his own journal, flipped it open to a blank page, and dipped his quill in the ink.

"Today," the Professor started, "I will teach you to inflict memories into your journal."

Oohs and aahhs came from the girls in the class.

"Wands at the ready!"

Rose raised her freshly polished Rosewood wand into the air.

"Repeat after me: Animus Recordatio!"

"Animus Recordatio!" the class said in unison.

The tip of Rose's wand started to glow a faint white.

"Think hard of the memory you want to pick. Think hard, students."

The glow of Rose's wand changed colors, from a faint white, to the colour of iridescent purple.

"Tap your heads, once."

Rose did so, and felt the memory draining out of her head.

"Tap your books."

_Tap._

The diary started to shine. Pages flew past, rippling, all in the iridescent purple glow.

Recalling the memory, Rose once again lost herself in the moment.

_It was raining._

_A cloaked, small figure, runs across the streets, her bright rain boots splashing in the puddles._

_Upon reaching her destination, she steps into the bakery. She takes off her hood, shaking her wildly unfeasible red hair._

_Rose, age 11, turns to the buns, picking out one with a sweet sugary topping, her favorite, and one with hidden custard in the middle,her soon-to-come guest's favored choice. She pays the cashier a handful of knuts and shillings, then runs over to a table. _

_A moment later, Scorpius, age 11, walks into the shop. Rose waves enthusiastically at him. He sees her, breaks into a grin, runs over, and takes a seat._

_She hands him the custard bun, the one she knows is his favorite._

"_Albus is covering for me." Rose whispers._

"_Oh, and what's your excuse this time?" Scorpius laughs._

"_I've went to get buns for the family."_

"_And what will they say when you return with none?"_

"_That I was hungry. And ate them all." She rubs her tummy, licking her lips, and gives a thumbs up._

_He bursts out laughing, and it isn't long until Rose starts laughing too._

_The other customers stare, wondering what is wrong with the two children._

_It doesn't matter to Rose and Scorpius though, because they are enjoying themselves, living in the moment, and right now, that is all that matters._

Rose opened her eyes, grinning at the memory. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten her favorite bun.

Suddenly, she looks down, seeing fancy, curly, writing appear on the page.

_Rose, dear._

The writing disappeared quickly.

_Yes, Mal?_ Rose rapidly wrote in cursive.

_Do you have feelings for this boy?_

The first few words are hesitant. Then they too, fade.

Rose opened her mouth, then shut it. Her quill, poised to write, was gently put down on the table. She blinked once, then slowly closed her journal.

Because, honestly, there were no words to describe how she felt. There were just no words.


	4. Chapter 4: Colour blind

It seemed like the sun was angry. Its rays poured down onto the fearful students as they sat in Flitwick's class, perspiring, and sweating.

It was June, and there were only a couple of weeks until the students could hop onto the Hogwarts Express and speed the whole way home.

To Rose, this was a comfort, as Hermione had installed a muggle air conditioning system (Genius, those muggles!) and used a spell to help the AC adapt to their home life. But, for now, she was stuck at Hogwarts, with nothing but her diary to help her cool down. She fanned herself lightly, but sighed, as the paper didn't provide any real comfort.

"And, your journals, will be due, on the second last day before you break." Professor concluded.

Rose wiped her sweat-beaded forehead in relief that class was finally over, grabbed her journal, and left the classroom. She wanted to head to the library to see if there were any modifications she could make to a cooling charm to apply it onto her body. And so, for the millionth time, she set her path to the library.

***

"It's so hot!" Albus Potter wiped his forehead.

"Look at those flowers, they're suffering just as much as we are!" He jabbed his finger accusingly at the potted plant, which stem was thin, bending over, its petals wilting in the hot, hot, sun.

"Hey." Scorpius was hit with a sudden idea.

"You still have that Marauder's map your dad gave you?"

"Um ...yes." Albus looked bewildered.

"Why don't we head down to Hogsmeade through one of the secret passages?"

"Oh yeah!" Albus' eyes widened in realization. "You want to go now?"

"What about Rose?"

Albus took out what looked to be a spare piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Albus tapped his wand against the parchment.

The details in the map appeared and started branching out.

"In the library." they both answered immediately.

"I should have guessed." Scorpius said wryly. "I'll be back with Rose in ten minutes."

"Great." Albus replied, running his hand through his already messed up hair. "Meet me at the one-eyed witch."

"Mischief managed."

***

Rose, was satisfied with her research, and successfully performing the cooling charm on her body, was at full content. She slipped on the colorful sunglasses Lorcan and Lysander Scamander had given to her for her recent birthday. Rose adored them. The twins had told her they would reveal to her the hidden sight, of crumple horned snorkacks, whatever that might mean. Anyway, they didn't exactly block the sun that well, but people said they looked ravishing on her.

Clutching her diary to her chest, she was about to turn the corner, when she smashed into someone.

Both of the books they had been holding, and Rose, went sprawling on the floor.

"Rose?" Scorpius squinted.

"Scorpius?" Rose sounded shocked.

Scorpius extended his hand to help her up. Adjusting her sunglasses, which were previously askew on the bridge of her nose, she gripped Scorpius' arm to help her up.

She then preceded to pick up the journal with the pink rosebud on the corner.

"What do you think you're doing?" That's my journal!" Scorpius exclaimed.

"NO, it's not. It has a rosebud, in the corner, see?" Rose pointed at it.

"Rose, there's nothing there." Scorpius leaned over to pick up the one from the floor.

"This one has the rose, see?" He showed it to her.

It was plain.

"Um...there's nothing there." she muttered.

Scorpius tried to yank the book out of Rose's hand.

"Just—grunt—let me show you!" he said.

"No! This is mine!" Rose shouted.

In all the commotion, Rose's sunglasses fell off.

She looked down at the journal, currently being stretched apart by Scorpius and herself.

Rose blinked. This is crazy. The journal was a plain black. NO rose. She rubbed her eyes. Still no rose.

Blushing, she let go of the journal, looking down at her feet. She picked up her sunglasses and placed them in her pocket.

"Sorry. I didn't see that," she apologized. Inside her head, she was panicking. Why was she having hallucinations? Was she delusional? Maybe she needed to get glasses?

"It's okay," Scorpius said, and he handed her the second journal that he had retrieved from the ground.

Rose took it back ashamedly, her cheeks burning.

"Anyways," Scorpius began, breathing heavily, "I was coming to ask you if you wanted to sneak out to Hogsmeade with us and get something cold, since it's hot and all,"he told her.

"Why not?" Rose shrugged.

"Albus said to meet him at the one eyed witch."

"Okay." Rose replied.

The two began making their away across the bridge, that stretched to the other side of Hogwarts.

Rose brandished her sunglasses and slipped them on.

She pinched herself. In her hand, was a plain black journal, and in Scorpius', the one with the rose on it.

She took them off. Rose bud on her own journal.

She put them on again. Rose bud on Scorpius' journal.

Sighing, she placed her glasses in her pocket once again. She was going to have to talk to the Scamander twins about what they and their parents had put in the tinted lenses. Seriously.


	5. Chapter 5: Masquerade Mixup

Please read and review! I really need feedback on this story :P

After smuggling all the goods back from Hogsmeade under Al's invisibility cloak, Rose and Scorpius headed back to the Heads' dorms, while Albus headed to the Slytherin Quidditch room, both groups intending to finish up some work.

Rose stepped up the stairs that led to her part of the dorm and flopped onto her bed, flipping open her diary.

Taking out her favorite quill, a phoenix's feather line with gold, which Scorpius had given to her for her 10th birthday, she began to write.

_Oh Merlin, Mal! I just made the most embarrassing mistake today!"_

The words faded into the page.

No reply. _H'm,_ Rose thought, _That was weird._ Usually Mal, the diary, would have replied, by now.

_I just bumped into Scorpius and made a huge fuss over something that I ended up didn't seeing! How careless of me! I loved those sunglasses, too! It turns out they're cursed._

There was a pause, and then words started appearing on the diary.

Rose sighed in relief.

_Scorpius, why are you talking about yourself in third person? And why are you calling me Mal?_

Rose squinted. This wasn't even Mal's writing. It wrote in all capital letters, and the font was bold and thick.

Slowly, she moved her quill across the parchment.

_Who are you?_

_I think the better question is, who are you?_ The diary replied.

_I'm Rose Weasley. _She wrote.

_Miss Weasley? The one Scorpius talks about all the time in this journal?_

_He talks about me all the time? _Rose was stunned.

_Yes, in fact---_

_Wait. Did you say this is Scorpius' journal? _Rose scrawled onto the paper.

_Yes, it is and----_

_Could you..._A Cheshire cat grin began to make it 's way up Rose' mouth. _Perhaps, show me something?_

If the diary could speak, Rose was sure the words would sound agitated and annoyed.

_Would you stop interrupting me?!!!? _

_Sorry._

_Now, Scorpius' journal is a private place, but seeing as it's you, Miss Weasley, I'm sure he wouldn't mind._

_Okay, but, since I have Scorpius' journal, does this mean he has mine?_

_Most possibly._

Uh oh. Rose thought. There were private thoughts in there. But for the time being, she supposed, since she was reading part of Scorpius' diary, he could read part of hers...

_Continue._ She wrote.

_Perhaps you remember this one quite well..._

The journal glowed.

Rose felt as if she was falling in.

She recognized the scene at the Great hall. It was in fourth year, and they were having the Yule Ball.

_The theme was a masquerade party. Rose looked to the top of the stairs, where she, was slowly descending down the stairs. _

_Her hair was piled up into an elegant crown on top of her forehead, red curls spilling down. Her face was covered with a teal feathered mask, dotted with bronze. Her dress, was strapless, matching her mask, and it blossomed down beneath her feet, leaving a slight trail behind her. In her left hand, she carried a bronze fan._

Rose was hit by how beautiful she looked in the memory. She bit her lip.

_Scorpius was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, where he knelt down and kissed her hand. _

_He was wearing a stunning black suit, with silver buttons. His mask was pure black feathers, and gave him the impression of Zorro._

_Your prince awaits, he said. She giggled._

_Together, they began waltzing around the floor. They spun, and they twirled, and they stepped, oblivious to everything else besides themselves. _

_It was a night of dancing. It was a night of grace. It was a night of passion. Scorpius would never forget._

And, she thought, neither would Rose.


	6. Chapter 6: Temptations and heroes

Rose heard a fist rap neatly on her dorm door.

She opened it, and saw exactly what she expected to see.

"Scorpius, what is it?" she asked innocently.

"Do you have my diary?" he asked suspiciously, squinting at the journal she held in her hand.

"No, I don't. Why?" Rose's eyes widened.

"Because, I have yours, and that day we bumped into each other, we might have switched the wrong one. I can't find mine."

Rose smiled, shaking her head.

"Scorpius," she crooned, as if talking to a little child, "Yours is plain. Mine has the rose, and it has my name on it. Look at yours. It's plain black. It's yours, see?" she held it out for him to look at, and like she said, it was plain black.

"But-"

"No buts, Scor! I didn't see your journal, and I'm sorry, but this is mine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do." Rose twirled her hair into a ponytail, spun around to leave, and abruptly shut the door on him.

Scorpius was confused. If she didn't have his diary, then who did? The one in his hand certainly wasn't his, he was sure he was it was Rose's, after talking to her diary, Mal, for a few sentences.

Well, Scorpius thought, his lip curling, and his face twisting into a smirk that his father had done so terrifically, he would have to make do with the consequences.

He walked down the steps leading away from Rose's dorm, and went to his. The familiar shades of green and silver seemed to egg him on as he headed to the emerald arm chair, snakes entwined for the arms. He grinned, and opened the book, then he began to read.

***

Rose sighed, sliding down to the bottom of the door. She peeked through her door keyhole to see if Scorpius had gone, and indeed, he had, his steps fading away.

She jumped up as soon as it was silent, and took the diary out from its' hiding spot beneath the blue and bronze pillows that were piled in a heap on her bed.

Completely forgetting that her diary was also in someone else's hands, she flipped open the diary, and sat back to let the magic happen.

***

_Hello, _Scorpius wrote.

_Hello, Scorpius. _The diary paused. _I didn't think you were going to be back._

_I wasn't expecting that I would. _He replied, _but circumstances have changed._

_So what is going on in here?_ He questioned.

_You wouldn't believe. Do you want to see? _

Scorpius paused for a second, his conscience getting the better of him, then temptation taking over.

_Of course._

He was sucked into a whirlpool.

Scorpius fell onto the cool green grass, his fingers wet with the morning dew. He looked aside to see a pure white unicorn, standing a few meters away, its silver saddle on its back, leaning down to have a few bits of grass for its' breakfast. The horse kept shooting him glances, as if asking him when he wanted to go. Walking over to it, remembering the time he and Albus had taken thestral-riding courses, he walked over to it and petted its' mane fondly.

"I wonder what your name is," he mused out loud.

_My name, _the horse thought to Scorpius, _is Valkyrie. And would you stop petting my mane? You're tainting it._

Scorpius stopped petting its' mane.

_What are you waiting for?_ The unicorn whinnied.

Scorpius shrugged, then hopped on. After all, this was just a memory.

Valkyrie reared on its' hind legs, then sped into the forest.

After a good few minutes of Scorpius' face being whacked with tree branches, which Valkyrie did not seem to mind much, Scorpius asked "Where are we going?"

_To rescue Lady Rose, of course._

"Lady Rose?" as in, "Rose Weasley?"

_Yes, Lady Rose Weasley. Her father, Lord Weasley, has kept her in a desolate tower in the far northern region. He believes she is too beautiful, intelligent, and cunning for her own good, and has locked her up so she will not be able to escape._

Scorpius snorted. "And why, exactly, would he do that?"

Valkyrie sounded annoyed.

_It is not for us to question, of his doings, but to rescue Miss Rose. It is rumored, though, he does not want her gallivanting off with improper men, and to keep her chaste and pure, a virgin, forever. Some people even believe that he is keeping her to later be a sacrifice for the monster hiding in the sea. _

"Would you believe that." Scorpius said wryly.

They reached the tower in silence. It was extremely tall, shadowing a large amount of the land, and the massive structure towered over them all.

"Now how, exactly, am I supposed to get all the way up there? I don't have a rope or super long ladder now, I suppose?" Scorpius said comically.

_No, you don't, _the unicorn communicated, almost amusedly, _but, you have, a wand._

"Well, in that case....Ascendio!" Scorpius shot upwards and into the sky, propelling into the tower window.

Scorpius peeled himself off the polished wooden floor, and looking up, was shocked.

"Well, would you look at that."


	7. Chapter 7: Double deal

It was peaceful and quiet in the Head dorms.

As soon as Rose had that thought, a loud, banging knock sounded on her bedroom door.

She shut the diary and scowled. "Leave, Scorpius!!!" Rose shouted.

"Didn't I already tell you-?" Rose began.

A muffled alohomora came from outside, and Rose's door burst open.

"As you can probably tell," Lily said, blowing away a wisp of hair covering her face, "I'm not Scorpius."

"How did you get our password, Lils?" Rose asked, putting the journal down and her elbow on her knee and forehead on her palm.

"Albus." Of course.

"So what is it that you want?"

"Well um.." She said, putting her hands behind her back.

"Lily."

"Okay! Fine. I wanted to ask you for help. I'm going to Hogsmeade with Lorcan. You know, one of the Scamander twins." she blushed furiously.

"I am perfectly well aware of who Lorcan and Lysander are, thank you very much." Rose paused, then snorted. "Wait. You're asking me for advice? Why not ask Dominique or someone else?"

"She's like a million miles away, at Beauxbatons, if you haven't noticed." Lily rolled her eyes. "So are you gonna help me or not?"

"Um..." Rose glanced down at her journal, then at Lily, and back again.

Lily huffed. "You can bring your journal that you're so weirdly obsessed about, too."

"Well, fine."

Lily yanked Rose out of the head room and towards the Gryffindor dormitory.

"Why Lorcan? I always kinda thought Lysander was more down to Earth..." Rose said thoughtfully.

"That's the point. Lorcan is more dreamy. Duh!" Lily sped up her pace. The truth was, Rose thought, Lily didn't really need her help at all. She could snag any boy she wanted, being a perfect 10 out of 10.

Lily recited the password for the Gryffindor common room, and the Fat Lady portrait swung open.

"Hello, Rose. Long time no see!" Rose used to sneak into the Gryffindor common room all the time after curfew, just to hang out with family.

"You too." she gave the Fat Lady a curt nod, than followed Lily into the place.

The boys whistled and howled as Lily stepped in.

"Oh, shut up!" She snapped, flipping her long, coppery, waves, and they stepped up the staircase to the girls' dormitory.

"Finally." Lily sighed. "Peace and quiet!" She slammed the door shut.

The dormitory was weirdly empty.

"If you're gonna ask about where everyone went, I told them Professor Slughorn was offering a course on how to make love potions." She paused, then added, "Of course, I put one of Uncle George's dream bombs in the classroom." Lily sniggered, covering her mouth with her manicured hands.

"Sweet dreams and a good night to all, as I like to say!"

"Um..."

"Right." Lily clapped her hands together.

"I'm not sure what to wear to the date." She reached into her bag (a.k.a mini wardrobe) and pulled out two outfits.

"I've narrowed it down."

First, she held out the long flow-y bronze sequin top with dark wash flare jeans and gold snake-skin mules, along with chandelier earrings.

"Okay, and what's your other choice?" Rose asked.

She held up a small, black, slinky dress which would hug her curves, and a pair of black boots and silver hoop earrings.

"Definitely the first option."

"What? You don't like the second one?"

"You asked me to pick." Rose said truthfully.

"Fine." Lily pouted. She put on the clothes from the first option, tied her hair into a chignon, and dabbed on some make-up.

Then she sat next to Rose on Lily's bed.

"One last thing."

"What is it?" Rose said, without looking up.

"Well, I was sort of hoping you could go on a double date..."

"What?"

"Chill, Rose."

"NO!"

"Well, Lorcan doesn't want Lysander to feel left out."

"No thanks, Lily."

"Rose, listen to me! You just have to go with him as a friend. You don't have to marry him or anything. Besides, we all know you like Scorpius."

"I do not like Scorpius." Rose retorted.

"Yes you do. You're basically flirting with him every time you're together. It's disgusting. So will you go with Lysander? As friends?"

"What's in it for me?"

"Can we deal with that later?" Lily rocked back and forth on her mules and waggled her fingers.

"Fine." Rose said exasperatedly.

"Yay!" Lily dragged Rose back down the dormitory stairs.

Rose only had time to grab the journal.

"But don't I have to change?" Rose asked.

Lily looked at her, pursing her lips and rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"No," she said finally, "you're perfect the way you are."


	8. Chapter 8: Strange overcomings

"You had to pick Madam Puddifoot's." Rose eyed the place distastefully, taking in all the pink, ribbons, and frills.

"What's wrong with it? It's so romantic!" Lily exclaimed, her eyes dreamy, as she saw an Asian couple next to her, snogging passionately.

Rose wanted to gag. She loved reading romantic muggle novels, but when she saw them in person, it was just kind of...ugh.

"Ooh!" Lily squealed, tightening her chignon, "They're here."

So the identical twins had arrived.

When they came closer, Rose noticed two things.

Lorcan was definitely more dreamy. But not, in the sizzling hot sort of way, kind of in a faraway kind of look. His blue eyes wore more of a periwinkle, and they seemed clouded. Lorcan's hair was a curtain, covering one side of his face, the other barely blinking under short blond lashes. His skin was extremely pale, almost giving of a gray tinge.

He seemed to be muttering something under his breath to Lysander, who was rolling his eyes.

It sounded suspiciously like: "atmosphere of wrackspurts" or something.

Lily yanked Lorcan, who seemed to be startled for a moment.

Lysander seemed disappointed and sat down next to Rose.

His eyes were more of a royal blue, and his lashes were longer. He was definitely cuter to Rose, and he was on the same team as her on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, as keeper.

"I know I'm not that much of a catch, but..." Rose smirked.

"That's not it at all!" Lysander protested. He looked at her sorrily.

"I know it isn't. You like Lily, don't you?" She could tell when a boy liked Lily. It would be written clear as day on their face. The only boy she couldn't exactly tell when he genuinely liked someone, would be Scorpius. And that was a completely different story.

"No. I don't."

Lily was talking animatedly to Lorcan, her fingers snaking up his arm, as he responded hesitantly after a slight pause.

"Yes, you do. I can tell, you know. She's my cousin."

"All right. I do. So what?" He shrugged good-humorously.

"So," Rose leaned forward, smiling, her voice dropping to a whisper, "I'm going to help you get her."

"All right!" He gave Rose a high five.

"So what's the plan?" he asked, conspiratorially.

***

The taste of the too-sweet hot chocolate still on her tongue, they had just left Madam Puddifoot's. Rose laughed nonchalantly as Lysander made a joke, his deep blue eyes twinkling.

"Rose!" Lily's voice came from behind them.

"What?" she asked, without turning her head.

"Come on over here for a second!"

Rose sighed. She signaled for Lysander to wait, then jogged over to Lily's side.

"What's up? Hey, and where's Lorcan?"

"I convinced him to get me a gift from Zonko's. Anyway, that's not the point! I need you to help me get rid of him."

"Oh no!" Rose waved her hands away.

"But...I like someone else now."

"Who is it now?"

"...Lysander."

"Rose, I think I'm in love!" Lily swooned.

"Oh no..." Rose groaned theatrically.

Just then, Lorcan walked out of the shop.

Lily screamed quietly. "Hide me!"

Rose shoved her aside. "Get off me!"

Lorcan wasn't even heading for Lily. He was coming towards Rose. He started to run, and Rose was shocked. He was quite fast. His eyes were even more clouded, giving off a silvery sheen, and he ran faster and quicker, at Rose.

"Oof!" He knocked Rose over, who lay flat on her back.

Lorcan grabbed her journal.

"Hey!" Rose yelled, sitting up. "Lorcan, give it back!"

Lily glanced at Lorcan in relief. "He obviously likes you, and since you're busy, I think I'm going to go find Lysander.."

"Oh no you don't!" Rose fumed.

Lily dashed off anyway, a trail of dust behind her.

Something else caught her eye. Lorcan was heading for the Black lake.

"LORCAN!!! STOP!!!" Rose screamed at the top of her lungs.

She reached into her pockets to pull out her much loved wand, in order to accio the book back.

Her pockets were empty. _Damn it!_ She smacked herself mentally. _It must've fallen out my pocket in the Head Dorms' room when Lily grabbed me to go to the Gryffindor house!_

Lorcan was shaking his head and swatting at something invisible. He was standing at the edge of the Black lake.

Rose was nearing closer, and closer. She reached out in one last desperate attempt to retrieve back the diary.

And then it happened. Lorcan took a deep breath, his fidgeting coming to a halt, and he hurled the journal, far far far into the lake, where it landed with a plop, floating on the surface, then starting to slowly sink.

A giant tentacle shot up from underneath the water, grabbed the diary, and disappeared back down.

"Lorcan!!! What---" Rose panted, leaning over, gasping heavily.

"Why in the WORLD did you do that?" she screamed.

"I needed it for-" _reading Scorpius's private thoughts!!!_. "our charms assignment!!!"

Lorcan shook his head, his blond waves swinging around him, then turned to face Rose. He seemed back to normal.

"But Rose," Lorcan explained calmly, "your journal had wrackspurts all over it. It wasn't normal or safe at all."

"Get this," Rose snarled. "There are no things as wrackspurts!!! Why can't you understand that????"

"Oh," Lorcan said, looking at her as if she did not know anything, "but there are."

Absolutely furious at Lorcan for doing such a rash thing, she stomped back in the direction where Lily had zoomed off too.

Under an apple tree, she saw Lily and Lysander snogging furiously, his hands under her shirt.

At another time, Rose would have clapped, another matchmaker mission yet again of Lily's accomplished successfully.

But now, Rose thought they looked like they were eating each other's faces.

Lysander, seeing Rose, flushed, his face a lovely shade of pink, as he stopped kissing Lily, their mouths disconnecting with a sharp sucking sound.

He ran over to Rose, who had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Isn't it great? Your plan worked!" He sounded like the Energizer bunny Rose saw on her grandparents' muggle television.

"Absolutely perfect." she said sourly.


	9. Chapter 9: Monsterosities

Writing this chapter partly grossed me out, but it was necessary. Very cheesy chapter, I know. I'm not good when I try action scenes. Read and review!!!!

* * *

Rose stood in front of him, wearing a Japanese kimono. Her auburn curls were tied up in a bun, two chopsticks sticking out in the back.

Strange. Rose never mentioned she liked Japanese tradition that much.

"Scorpius." Her voice was smug. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to rescue you, aren't I?" Scorpius asked, his eyebrows raised.

For some reason, Rose looked dazzlingly beautiful. Not that she always wasn't beautiful, but, this was movie-star beautiful. Her skin was a creamy smooth alabaster, her hair extremely shiny, her eyes bigger and lashes longer, and her figure more curvy.

"Yes you are." she grinned at him, her perfectly even, full, pink lips revealing straight, pearl, white teeth.

"How about a token of love?" She asked teasingly.

"Why not?" Scorpius smirked.

Rose walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Then she leaned forward and kissed him.

For some reason, Scorpius felt like it was burning hot, flames coming up from the pits of Tartarus.

Then her lips moved to his neck. The heat turned to boiling, then a searing pain coursed through his neck.

"Hey!" He jumped backwards, hands at his neck. He felt the rawness of his skin. It felt as if....and even though it sounded crazy....like she had peeled off some of his skin.

"It doesn't look that bad. Yet." Rose offered. "Need a mirror?"

She handed him a mirror. His neck was a raw red.

"What did you do to my neck?" he said, startled. It stung from under his touch.

A deep, throaty laugh, came from Rose's throat. She laughed, evilly, and viciously.

And then Scorpius knew.

This wasn't Rose. It wasn't Rose at all. He reached around for his wand, but couldn't find it.

"Looking for this?" the Rose-but-not-Rose taunted. She twirled his wand around on the tips of her fingers.

Then she began to transform.

Her image seemed to shimmer for a moment, then it started to morph. The creature dropped the wand, and Scorpius desperately wanted to reach for it, but it lay out of his grasp.

She was no longer Rose.

It was quite frightening, actually.

Her auburn hair started darkening until it reached a dark, dark, black. It flew around her upper body like a storm, the two chopsticks falling to the ground.

Then her skin started changing to a metallic blue, her eyes darkening to a red, her mouth sharpening to many little daggers of teeth.

Scorpius could only watch in horror. "What are you?"

"My name is the Nikusui." her deep voice rumbled throughout the room.

"We are a Japanese demon that feed on the flesh of man by turning into the image of the woman most loved."

Scorpius staggered back, falling to his feet.

The Nikusui's face blurred for a moment, then turned to the face of Rose.

Rose smiled down at him, licking her lips. "Come on, Scorpius," she crooned. "Just one more taste?"

She beckoned to him, while Scorpius stared with his mouth hanging open.

"No way! Get away from me, you monster!" He struck out at the impostor, who staggered back, clutching its' face.

"For that," it hissed, "you shall pay!"

"How dear it shall be to me, when I taste your flesh!" Its' forked tongue slithered out at him, and it started stalking across the room towards him.

Scorpius' hands started grabbing out randomly at anything he could. He looked down at what his hand had got, and groaned. Great. What could he do with a chopstick?

But then, he knew. He waved over at the Nikusui demon. "Over here!! Look!!! I got a wand!!!" He waved it around, then purposely dropped it on the floor in across the demon.

"Uh oh." he smiled deviously.

Scorpius feigned running towards the wand, but the demon started to race him, and being faster, would, hypothetically, get there first.

So while the Nikusui went to grab the chopstick, Scorpius raced halfway across the room and grabbed his wand.

He could have kissed it.

The monster turned angry at Scorpius, snapping the chopstick in half. The remains rolled on the floor.

"You tricked me!!!" It screamed.

Scorpius clutched his ear, struggling not to let go of his wand.

"Stupefy!" he shouted. The spell bounced off the Nikusui's hide.

Losing its' frustration, it started to smile. "Oh, but it seems, as if you do not know my weakness. What a pity." She shook her head mockingly.

"You know how my skin gets this strong?"

Scorpius ignored her and continued trying to shoot spells.

"Petrificus totalis!" he yelled.

"The many skins of my victims has helped to build up resistance. And yours shall be a great addition."

She backed him up into a corner.

"Look into my eyes." The face was Rose's again, and the voice hers as well, a sickly sort of tender.

"At least the last sight you see will be her." The deep voice rumbled and chortled.

He closed his eyes, ready to face the pain.

All of a sudden, the window filled with light.

"What is it now???" The Nikusui wailed.

It turned around to face it and screamed.

Scorpius looked at what had suddenly come to distract the demon.

He saw it and grinned delightfully. Hope had come to the rescue.


	10. Chapter 10: Finding a solution

It was another beautiful day in Hogwarts academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and all was peaceful.

The surface of the Black lake was smooth and undisturbed, without a ripple.

Everyone was pleased, yet this was what Rose Weasley did not want.

She stood in front of the lake, her wand raised, her lips set into a determined grimace as she tried to summon the diary out of the lake.

"Accio!"

The lake was silent.

Lysander and Lily were sitting next to each other under the willow tree, Lily's head on Lysander's lap, basking under the cool shade of the tree's shadow.

Lysander stroked his hands through Lily's river of fiery copper hair, then spoke up thoughtfully.

"You know, Rose, I don't think you can summon anything out of the Black lake. It's enchanted, isn't it?"

Rose had a brief flashback of one evening in the library, reading the history of the lake. Apparently, Dumbledore had put a n extremely powerful spell on the lake during the Triwizard tournament during Mom, Dad, and Uncle Harry's fourth year so the champions couldn't summon their imprisoned friends out of the water.

She took out her frustration on Lysander. "You could've told me earlier!" she snapped, hair whipping around into her mouth. She spat the hairs out spitefully.

Lily was first to react. "You know, Rose, you're being quite awful about all of this. It's just a diary, after all. You could ask Flitwick for another." She finger combed a knot that had appeared suddenly in her hip-length tresses.

Rose could feel her cheeks flushing with anger, at Lily not being able to understand any of this. She was two years younger, after all.

"They were special," Rose ground out, beneath the mashing of her teeth.

Plus, she couldn't tell them, that, it wasn't her journal in the lake, it was Scorpius'.

If she didn't recover it, then two very bad things would occur.

One, when Scorpius figured out what had happened, he would throw her onto the Whomping willow and feed her remains to Aragog's ( Hagrid's old pet acromantula) children in the Forbidden forest.

Besides, where was Scorpius nowadays? She hadn't seen him since he asked her about his journal.

Anyways, two, she would lose the opportunity of reading the "Essence of Scorpius". Ok, so this might not have been as bad as number one, but it was important to her. Who knew what he was hiding?

Lysander, being in the same year as Rose, quickly spoke up.

"You know, Rose, you could always swim. You are an excellent swimmer."

At another time, Rose would have been flattered. Charm wasn't exactly winning it's way over with her, now though.

"Lysander! Stop flirting with Rose! She's my cousin!" Lily whined.

Lily slapped Lysander on the arm.

"Ow! I am not flirting with Rose!! And what was that--"

"Ahem." Rose stomped her foot on the rough, patchy, ground.

Lils and Ly turned their faces to look up at Rose, who was glaring down at them.

"How exactly am I going to be able to stay down their for an hour?" she demanded.

Lily frowned indignantly, her flawless face marred with the marks of her frown.

"I can't believe Teen Witch Weekly named you the smartest witch of your age!"

"What?" Rose squinted down at her superficial cousin.

"Don't you remember all those stories Dad used to tell us?"

"Uncle Harry?"

"He used gillyweed." Lily pronounced the word proudly, her lips pouting.

"Smart cookie, you are." Lysander leaned down and kissed Lil' on the forehead, where she giggled.

Rose glowered.

"Only, you forgot the fact, that gillyweed is only in Professor Slughorn's private stores! I can't steal! And Uncle Harry said gillyweed tastes gross!"

"Rose," Lysander reprimanded, "don't be picky! Lily's trying to help."

Rose stuffed her wand down her robes and turned around to leave.

In a flash, Lysander got up, reached a hand down to Lily, and they started to follow her.

"Don't bother." Rose said, without turning around.

"I need some alone time away from you love birds. I'm going to find Albus."

Offended, the two sat back down, and watched Rose disappear into the distance.

"What's she got up her buttocks?" Lysander asked, eyebrows squished together and looking disgruntled.

"Don't bother, " Lily explained patiently. "It's probably a PMS day."

"What?" Ly rubbed his ear.

"Oh, you know," Lily said, flipping her hair over her shoulders, and remembering the muggle book Rose had lent her last summer called the "Last Song", by someone called Nicole Starks or something.

"Pissed at Men Syndrome day."

***

It was quite unfortunate, Rose thought, that she was not the middle aged Potter boy.

Usually, she was never jealous of Albus, but she really wanted to know where he was.

And if she had been Albus, she would have gotten the Marauder's map from James. James had found it in a drawer in Harry's desk one day, and fascinated with his discovery, used it to full advantage.

As in, full advantage being sneaking out to Hogsmeade, buying more trinkets from Zonko's and Uncle George's shop, and even finding a place, where, he would shag many other girls in complete privacy. (Why girls would want to shag someone like James was completely beyond her understanding.)

What more, he was never caught.

But so, as not being Albus, Rose had to walk around hand and foot trying to find where Albus was.

She searched the Quidditch pitch, the Slytherin common room, everywhere else she could think of.

When she finally gave up, it was dark, and she decided to go to the library instead, to do research on spells she could use to stay underwater.

As Rose entered the familiar double doors of the library, one thing that caught her attention was a messy, black haired, head.

She ran over to it, and stared at him.

Albus was reading, studying a book.

"Albus." she said, surprised.

"Are you reading?" She asked in disbelief.

"No." he sighed and put the book down. His green eyes seemed a little dull. He rubbed them.

"Uncle Neville gave me a book on herbology."

"You read that stuff ?"Rose's eyes widened.

"No." He snapped. "He told me there would be a pop quiz in class tomorrow."

"OH, I see....wait a minute! Uncle Neville didn't tell ME!"

"Because I m his favorite. Duh."

"You are not-"

"I'm kidding, Rosie. He knows you don't need it." He ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Hey!" she swatted at his hand. He always loved to rub it into Rose's face that he was older than she was, even though they were in the same year.

"So what hails you here? I haven't seen you for a day or so."

"I was busy helping Lily with her match-making. Again."

They rolled their eyes at each other.

"Who is it now?" Albus asked exasperatedly.

"Lysander Scamander."

"He's one of the nice ones, he is."

"Anyways, I was wondering if you knew any spells or stuff to keep you underwater for an hour...hypothetically, of course."

"Like the one dad used in fourth year?"

"Ya'. Kinda like that." Rose said, vaguely.

"Well gillyweed-"

"No gilly weed."

He looked startled. "Well, Dad said, Victor Krum transfigured into half shark..."

"Yikes." Rose shook her head disdainfully.

"And apparently, Fleur, and Cedric used bubble head charms."

"Great!" her head shot up. "Let me go ask Madam Pince..."

Albus grabbed her arm, causing her to sit back down.

"What is it now?" she asked irritatedly.

"I thought you knew. The library has a new search system." he glanced at her.

Rose was bewildered. How could she fall behind on the library?

"Ok." she answered slowly. "So how do you work it?"

"Raise your wand." he instructed.

She did.

"Repeat: Quadratus quaero." he said next.

"Quadratus quaero." The wand glowed a pale green.

"Draw a rectangle on the desk."

Rose did so, and she saw the green outline of the rectangle.

Then the coolest thing happened. The rectangle glowed white, then a voice popped up in Rose's mind.

"Write the keyword you want to search," it said robotically.

In cursive, Rose wrote "Bubble-Head charm."

The words were etched in green on the white screen, then disappeared.

"You may find a book on Bubble-head charms in the Reference section, number 782," the search screen replied automatically.

"is there anything else you wish to search tonight?" it asked.

"No, thank you."

"Good day." It finished, mechanically, then flashed once, and disappeared. Rose found herself looking at a blank table.

Albus immersed himself in the herbology book.

_Gillyweed is a magical plant native to the Mediterranean and resembling a bundle of slimy, grey-green rat tails. When it is eaten by a witch or wizard, one grows gills and webbing between the fingers and toes. There is some debate among Herbologists as to the duration of the effects of Gillyweed on fresh water versus salt water, but the effects of Gillyweed in fresh water seems to last about an hour. _

By the time Albus had reached debate, Rose was back, breathless, and red-faced.

She slammed the book down on table and began to read, pages flipping per second.

_The Bubble-Head Charm is the most effective spell for breathing underwater or in any environment where fresh air is at a premium. It causes a protective bubble to form about the caster's head, like a helmet. This bubble may allow the caster to breathe underwater or protect the head from falling objects._

_The use of this spell has greatly increased in popularity after it was used by Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour in the Triwizard Tournament._

_In order to cast the Bubble-Head Charm, one must hold the wand-_

"Rose?" Albus asked.

"Mm?" she mumbled.

"Have you seen Scorpius lately?"

"No." she muttered.

"He hasn't shown up for two quidditch practices, and we have a match facing Ravenclaw next Saturday."

"Isn't that too bad," Rose smirked.

"If you see him, can you give him a reminder?"

"Sure," she mumbled again.

_-tip facing one's chest, then chant "Spiritus Profundus."_

Spiritus Profundus. Rose repeated mentally in her head.

"Gee, Albus, I'm beat. I think I'm going to head to our dorms now."

She yawned, closing the book shut.

"Can you put this back for me?"

"Hey-"

"Bye!" she waggled her fingers and speed walked out the door.

Once at the Head dorms, she walked across the room to Scorpius' bed quarters.

She knocked softly on the door.

"Scorpius." she said slowly.

"Albus wanted to tell you to keep track of Quidditch practices. Apparently, you missed 2."

No response.

"Scorpius?" Rose pressed the side of her face to the door, but it creaked open and she toppled over.

"Ow," she winced.

Rose glanced around the room. It was empty, and the surrounding air was cold. There was only a diary left on his bed.

Quietly, Rose stepped back out into the common room.

At such a time during the night, where exactly could he be?


	11. Chapter 11: It starts with a kiss

A brilliant white mass flew in front of Scorpius, temporarily blocking the demon's view.

Valkyrie's heels knocked the Nikusui back on its' heels.

_Hurry, Master,_ it thought to Scorpius,_ I cannot hold it off for long._

_I don't know what the demon's weakness is!!! _Scorpius thought back frustratingly towards the Unicorn, which was busy in the battle.

_You know, I know you do. What, exactly, would Lady Rose hate?  
_

"Why, are you asking me this at such a time?" Scorpius whispered furiously.

What does Rose hate? She hates...she hates.....

"Tomatoes?" Scorpius summoned a tomato and threw it at the Nikusui, which landed squarely on one of its' eyes. 

"Eurgh, I guess not..."

It couldn't be what Rose disliked...it had to be something....she abhorred....

"Brussel sprouts?"

"No, that can't be!"

_Hurry up!_ The unicorn thought agitatedly, impaling the demon's other eye with its' golden horn.

He couldn't quite remember, something Rose hated, Nana Molly, their grandma would always put it on the mashed potatoes at Christmas time....

Green onions? No, that wasn't it....

Chives...no!

_I'm sorry, Scorpius, but I can't fight it any more...you will have to rescue Lady Weasley by yourself...._

With an agonizing cry, the arm of the Nikusui stabbed out, into Valkyrie, and Valkyrie disappeared into golden dust, sprinkling the floor around them.

It was only then that he remembered, what it was.

_It was Christmas time, and Rose, Scorpius, and Albus, were sticking around the table, their noses turned up, every time Nana Molly returned to the table, with a new dish, like turkey wings, or a pot of fresh stew, they would try and steal a bite._

_Nana Molly would reprimand them, saying, Now, now, children, you must wait for the others._

_And finally, she brought out a dazzling heap of mashed potatoes, the aroma so mouthwatering that Scorpius had to plug his nose to not dive in right then and now to eat them._

_He and Albus shared glances, knowing they both shared the same thoughts._

_They turned to look at Rose, who's nose was scrunched up in disgust._

"_What?" they looked at her disbelievingly._

"_It's not the potatoes," she said, wrinkling her nose, "it's the cloves."_

Of course! Cloves!

Scorpius summoned a clove with his wand, the cluster of the herbs landing neatly in his hand.

The Nikusui's face twisted. "What is that horrible smell?"

Scorpius pointed his wand at the clove, and the ends, stems, started extending. They kept on extending, and growing longer, until they surrounded the demon's feet.

Then, the clove wrapped itself around the Nikusui's feet, twining together, and moving on up to the body.

The screams the demon was making were unbearable, and as to not damage his ears, he flicked his wand at his ears. Instantly, he was sound proof.

As the herb wrapped itself in a cage around this gross demon, Scorpius opened the door that had suddenly appeared on the other side.

Then he closed the door, locked it, and flicked his wand once again at his ears, able to hear the distant screaming on the other side.

In the middle of the room, lay a small custard pastry, saying Eat me. He reached for it, took a small bite, found it was delicious, and the room started to swirl around him.

It spun, faster and faster, until Scorpius could make no more sense of it, and he was plopped softly in another room.

Of course, he thought astoundingly. An edible port key. What a genius!

It was a bedroom this time. It was plain, but airy, and very, very large. On top of the bed, lay Rose. Her eyes were closed, and she was wearing a simple nightgown.

Scorpius approached very carefully, because he didn't want the same thing to happen again. He got closer, and still she did not stir.

Then he was by her bedside. Her reached down and put a hand to her forehead. It was cold.

For some reason, Scorpius was sure this was Rose. He could just feel it, even though he didn't know how. He could sense her presence.

She wasn't dead, was she?

He felt her pulse, and there was a steady, undulating beat of her heart.

Scorpius could hear something at the back of his mind, throbbing with force.

Something, that someone had once said to him.

_It all starts with a kiss._

Scorpius leaned forward, and kissed Rose on the lips.

They were cold, but soft, and before he could register anything else, Scorpius was once again thrown into a whirlpool, then sucked out of it, and thrown roughly onto his bed in the dorms. He glanced at the clock. It was 1:18 in the morning.

He peeked outside his door. Rose was asleep in the armchair, her head lolling to one side on her palm.

She was sitting, facing their Heads' entrance that opened to their rooms.

It was only later, that Scorpius realized, she was probably waiting for him.

He turned to the diary, looking at it as words once again appeared on the page.

_So how did you find your journey?_ Mal asked.

_Let's just say,_ Scorpius wrote tiredly, _no more entering her dreams anymore._

_How about a memory? _The diary wrote back, and without warning, threw one of Rose's memories at him.

He recognized it right away.

_It was one of the Christmases they had decided to stay at Hogwarts._

_Many of the students there had transfigured their hats into the traditional Kris Kringle ones._

_Some of them even bought them from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which looked the same, but if you were unlucky, shot a mistletoe right above your head, so you would be trapped until someone came and snogged you free._

_That was what exactly happened when Rose was a prefect in fifth year._

_A kid named Anna Drevin, in second year, was wearing one of those hats. Rose recognized it as the ones her Uncle George designed, immediately._

"_Anna", she had called._

_The mischievous second year turned around at her, beaming._

"_You know the hats from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes are banned," Rose told her._

"_Yes?" Anna replied, still having the guts to look innocent._

"_Hand it over."_

_Her beam turned to a full on Cheshire cat grin, and she said, "With pleasure."_

_Rose didn't know what these hats did, so as she reached out, the hat grew a mouth hole, and spat out a mistletoe on top of her head._

"_Hey, I'm a prefect!" Rose had shouted furiously, crossing her arms._

"_All the more to trick you with," Anna had grinned, and then skipped off._

"_Come back!" Rose yelled, annoyed. But of course, she didn't._

_So she waited and waited and waited for someone to come around._

_Henry McLaggen did, and he almost did kiss her, before she threatened him with the Bat Bogey hex Aunt Ginny had taught her the past summer._

_Then Scorpius came around the corner._

_Rose had wanted to run over and hug the guts out of him._

"_Scorpius!" she shouted in relief._

"_Come over here and snog me!"_

_Then she had realized the silliness in her words, and blushed, while he smiled at her slyly._

"_That's not what it sounds like." Rose pointed at the mistletoe above her._

"_Anna Drevin mistletoed me because I wanted to take away her hat from Uncle George's shop and-" she stumbled around with your words._

"_You really do talk to much, Rose," Scorpius said, much closer than he had been before, and he leaned in, their lips touching._

_Slowly, the mistletoe began to recede, its' invisible binding withdrawing from Rose's body._

"_Wow," she breathed._

_Rose touched her lips numbly, and without turning around, said, "You know what they say."_

"_No, actually I don't." Scorpius leered teasingly._

"_It all starts with a kiss."_


	12. Chapter 12: De Profundus

The sun was just starting to rise, and before anyone was awake, Rose woke up, realizing she was still asleep in the arm chair. She hadn't heard the door open, so that probably meant Scorpius wasn't back yet.

It was time for her plan to be put into action. Slowly, but quietly, she tiptoed out of the dorms, onto the moving staircase.

She walked soundlessly, until she reached the Black lake.

Rose pointed her wand and tapped her clothes, which then transfigured into a one piece swimsuit. She stretched, getting ready.

Since she already knew the water was going to be cold, she did a heat charm on her self in order to stay warm. Rose starting wading out into the lake, the shallow water lapping her heels. Then she went further, and the waves were bigger and bigger, starting to fall at her chin level.

"Spiritus Profundus!" Rose incanted, then dipped her head below. She plunged deeper and deeper, until the surface of the water, which was bathed in light, was several heights above her. Her long, auburn hair, was a curtain, that was floating up and down around her head.

Rose could feel the bubble around her head and was too scared to touch it. Even though she knew it was magically enhanced, Rose couldn't help but be scared that it would pop. Hearing the sound of the Mer people, she swam, in a breaststroke, towards where the music was coming from.

In the way was a big, forest, of sea kelp and weeds. Rose kicked upwards, her face looking down, in case some grindylows would shoot up and decide to attack her at any moment. Her heart beat quickening, she touched her wand lightly. Sure enough, a small, ugly, creature, darted up from the weed bed, and its' green teeth bared, used its' abnormally long fingers to wrap themselves around Rose's ankle.

"Hey!" she protested, the words coming out as bubbles.

It started yanking her down towards the seabed, where Rose was almost sure she could hear the sounds of baby grindylows yelling for their mother's victory.

Rose closed her eyes, trying to remember what she had learned in the Defense of the Dark arts class.

_The trick to combating them is to break their grip; their abnormally long fingers are strong but very brittle._

She opened her eyes again, the weed bed now seeming closer than it had before, so close Rose could see the top of the green horns of the little baby grindylows in its' nest. She pointed the tip of the wand at the grindylow's fingers wrapped around her foot.

A red spark shot out, and it released Rose from its' grip, howling, the grindylow's fingers now burned, a horrible ashy colour.

She swam forward, as fast as she could, in case some other grindylows would want to get her back. Kicking her legs furiously, the water rippling in waves around her, she slowly reached the colony of Merpeople, where guards were patrolling the outside.

As soon as she was within the distance of three of the mer-guards' trident lengths, they faced her and hissed.

Then they opened their mouths, and spoke in Mermish: "Who are you and what do you want?" Their tongues hissed, and their long, lovely hair, entwined with kelp, billowing out around them.

To which, Rose had responded hesitantly, as her Mermish was most definitely not fluent "I wish to see Merchieftainess Murcus."

Reluctantly, they lowered their tridents, and the lobalugs, venom sacks contracting, around their neck, and they surrounded her, back and front.

The one with the largest lobalug around its neck turned towards her, saying: "Follow me."

They escorted her, in through the large double doors, through a small narrow hallway, which Rose expected was because they didn't want human eyes to see their works, and wanted to keep it a mystery, but she kept quiet until she was left to the Merchieftainess.

The Merchieftainess was seated at an underwater desk, seemingly, as if she was doing some paperwork.

The guard cleared his voice, his Mermish flowing and rapid. "Miss, there is a human here who said she wanted to see you."

They backed out, closing the doors behind them, leaving Rose alone with the Merchieftainess.

The head of the Merpeople turned her bulbous, large, yet clear eyes upon Rose.

"What do you want?" Her words were impatient, and sharp.

"Um..." Rose said.

"Speak up!" The mermaid ordered.

"I just wanted to know if I could have my diary back, because it fell in the lake, and the Giant Squid took a hold of it." _Stupid Lorcan!_ She cursed him with all her might.

"Yes, we have it, but what will you give us in return?" Murcus' voice was thick and full, a bit like her flowing hair, which rose up, around her.

"A gift?" Rose spoke in Mermish, uncertainly.

"If you do not know even what we like, then we cannot give the diary to you," the Merchieftaness' voice hardened.

Rose thought quickly to the time where Uncle Harry had been telling them about his adventures in the Triwizard tournament. He had said there was something they liked....of course! She remembered, the Mer liked music.

"How about a song? I can sing a song."

Murcus looked pleased, as well as impressed. "Very well, then. Sing for me."

Rose took a deep breath, thinking of the song Uncle Harry had sung for her so often, mind, the fact, that he had an ultimately terrible singing voice, she thought grimly.

Opening her mouth, she found her voice could be heard, a sweet, clear, high tone, filling the room.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground,  
And while you're searching, ponder this:  
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,  
An hour long you'll have to look,  
And to recover what we took.  
But past an hour - the prospect's black  
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

The merpeople's voices entwined Rose's in a multiple harmony.

When the song ended, Murcus' eyes brightened in recognition.

"Ah, of course. The Potter boy is your uncle, is he not?"

Rose nodded soundlessly.

The song, captured in a bright, orange, swirling, bulb, flew out of Rose's throat and into the Merchieftainess' hands.

The diary flew into Rose's hands.

"I trust you are happy?" All the Mermish made Rose dizzy, so she nodded again, without a noise.

Fwip!!!! The Merchieftainess made a whistling noise with her throat. The guard with the lobalug swam in.

"Escort the girl to our gates."

Rose was led outside the doors, which were promptly shut as soon as she had exited. Without a backwards glance, she swam forwards, and shot upwards, her arms above her head. As soon as she reached the surface of the lake, the cool morning dew in the air engulfing her, the bubble disintigrated.

It would only take a few seconds to get there, so to be as quick as possible, she was about do the Butterfly stroke.

Only, a giant, coral tentacle, thick as a trunk, shot around her waist, and threw her up into the air towards the surface.

"Merlin!" She screamed.

"Aresto Momentum!" Rose yelled, while spinning towards the sandy surface of the lake. She wanted to ensure she had a cushy landing.

Rose flopped softly on the ground, flat on her stomach.

She sat up, groaning, and wiped the sand from her body.

"Need a hand?" A long, elegant drawl arose from behind her.

"Scorpius!"

"That was quite a fall."

Rose did a quick drying spell to rid her of all the water, then transfigured her bathing suit back into her morning clothes.

"What were you doing in there?" Scorpius asked curiously.

"Getting this." She held up the soaked diary, which she quickly dryed.

"All that for a diary."

"Yup."

Rose peered at Scorpius.

"Where have you been the last few days?"

Scorpius merely grinned, and said, "Let's just say it's a long story."


End file.
